On June 22, 2025, hundreds of women under the banner of AIPWA marched through the streets of Koderma, Jharkhand, demanding the safe return of migrant workers kidnapped in Niger. The march came after armed militants kidnapped five men from Jharkhand’s Giridih district - Sanjay, Raju, Faljit, Chandrika, and Uttam Mahto—while they were working for Kalpataru Power Transmission Limited in the Tillaberi region on 25 April 2025. The abduction came amid a violent raid on their work camp, during which 12 security personnel lost their lives in clashes with assailants believed to be part of militant groups active in the Niger - Mali - Burkina Faso Sahel region.

The families of the abducted have faced agonising uncertainty, and efforts by the Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren to prompt the Indian Embassy and the Ministry of External Affairs have so far seen limited response. Despite heavy police deployment and repeated attempts to block their way, the women pushed forward, raising slogans and carrying photographs of the abducted workers. Their central demand: why hasn’t the government acted decisively to bring the workers home, and why is Annapurna Devi, the local MP and Union Minister of State for Education, refusing to meet the families?

The marchers accused central authorities of apathy and delay, urging the Ministry of External Affairs and the PMO to take swift, visible steps in the rescue effort.